The People's Bank of China expanded its relending quota for agriculture and small businesses by CNY 100 billion to channel more bank credit to flood-control, disaster-relief and post-disaster reconstruction needs in affected regions. The additional quota is intended to guide and encourage financial institutions to increase lending to operating entities in disaster-hit areas including Beijing, Hebei, Jilin, Shandong and Gansu, with a focus on micro and small enterprises, self-employed businesses, and agricultural and livestock-related firms and households. Next, the central bank will press its relevant provincial branches to fully deploy the added quota and to steer financial institutions to proactively match financing supply to flood-relief and reconstruction demand to support the resumption of production and business operations.